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Malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) has traditionally been treated surgically or with endoscopically placed expandable stents. Now, investigators in Europe prospectively evaluated a novel technique in which magnets are placed in the stomach and the jejunum to create an ischemic gastroenteric fistula; subsequently, the magnets are removed, and a covered stent is positioned through the fistula to form an anastomosis.
The procedure was attempted in 18 patients with malignant GOO. A fistula was successfully created in 13 patients (magnet placement was unsuccessful in 3 patients, and 2 patients died, most likely from disease progression, after magnet placement but before stent placement). Also, stent placement failed in 1 patient, so that …